Catching Avery

by M. E. Clayton

  I looked up as the door opened to see Quinn walk in, with Avery right behind her. They immediately took notice of Chase and that’s when Avery started whipping her head around the room, presumably looking for me. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and shook her head the moment she found me.

  She was hell on my confidence.

  “Good afternoon, ladies. Would you please take a seat?” Julian greeted them. “Chase, move,” he ordered. Chase stood up and went to go sit in one of the chairs that circle Julian’s conference table. I set my almost finished drink and went to go stand next to Julian with my hands in my pockets. I was working really hard at appearing unaffected by Avery, but I wasn’t sure if it was working.

  Neither woman sat down. They stood in the center of the room, side by side, looking ready to do battle. “We’d rather not, Mr. Moretti.” Quinn clasped her hand together in front of her body; seemingly to restrain herself would be my guess. Chase was in for the ride of his life. I just hope he knew it. “If you’re going to fire us, I’d rather skip the long, drawn out version of where you list all of our indiscretions and pretend that this debacle is entirely our fault.”

  It took everything I had in me not to laugh. This chic was a force all her own. I glanced over at Chase and he looked like he was in love. Julian let out a Julian-sigh, probably thinking of inventive ways to torture me and Chase. “Ms. Erikson, Ms. Ellis, do sit down, please. I…we didn’t call you up here to fire you.”

  Quinn held up her right hand in a stopping motion. “Before you go any further, know that Mr. Spillner has instructed us to report back to him everything that is said in this meeting. So if you were planning on divulging company secrets, I’d reconsider.”

  That motherfucker. Who did he think he was?

  I finally spoke, “What a coincidence, because he’s the reason you two are here.” I removed my right hand from my pocket and gestured for them to take a seat.

  They both shared a wary glance between them, but they finally sat down in the seats opposite Julian. Avery had yet to look at either me or Chase after her first initial spotting of us. “Okay, Mr. Moretti.” Quinn sat down and then asked, “So what is going on?”

  Julian smirked a bit. “I’m thinking by this point Ms. Erikson it’s okay to call me Julian, don’t you think?”

  Quinn cocked her head at him. “No, I don’t.” She leaned forward to emphasize her point. “I know this may be difficult to believe based on our incredible lack of judgment on Friday, but we’re not stupid, and you are out of your mind if you think we’re going to walk up and down these hallways, in a work force made up primarily of men, calling you three by your first names.”

  She had a hell of a point. “Point taken, so how about you address us formally in the presence of other employees, but behind closed doors first names are fine.” I suggested.

  She glanced over at Avery really quick, no doubt trying to read her expression for a yes or no. Too bad Avery was not looking anywhere else but directly at Julian. With no help from Avery, Quinn made the decision. “I’m fine with that, Nick.”

  “Thank fuck, because the name I want you screaming, sweetheart, is Chase and not Mr. Alexander. Unless being on your knees in my office is in your fantasy line up.” He winked at her.

  Avery lowered her flaming red face and Quinn just flipped him off while she still looked towards me and Julian. I often wonder how we made it all this far without strangling Chase. “Okay, enough,” Julian started. “We actually did call you guys up for,” he shot Chase a quelling look, “a legitimate business reason.”

  Avery returned her gaze to Julian, still trying hard as hell to avoid looking at me or Chase. “Have either of you had any inappropriate dealings with William Spillner?”

  By the looks on each of their faces you would have thought Julian asked them if they were in the habit of slaughtering baby ducklings. Quinn sputtered, “W…wha…excuse me?”

  Avery, succumbing to her imagined pressure, stood up out of her seat and went into another Friday night performance. “Oh, so just because we may have been less than restrained with our bosses one night, you think we just go around jumping all the men of position in this company?!” She finally looked over at Chase, then swung her gaze back over to me and then settled on Julian. “You guys have a hell of a lot of nerve. You guys were behaving just as inappropriately as we were Friday night, if not more, since kidnapping is a capital offense in this country. Hell, he,” she swept her arm towards Chase, “was super inappropriate not two minutes ago, but you don’t hear us accusing you guys of using this company as your personal Tinder account!”

  Okay, so question answered. She didn’t need alcohol to display her quirky ways.

  Quinn reached up and put her hand on Avery’s arm. “Relax, Ace-”

  Avery look down at a still sitting Quinn. “Are you serious, Q? They just accused us of sleeping with Mr. Douche Canoe. Seriously?”

  “Avery, that wasn’t what Julian was asking at all,” Chase corrected her.

  She gave him a scathing look. “Really? Well, then what is your definition of ‘inappropriate dealings’?” Then she threw her hands up. “Look who I’m asking.”

  Julian cleared his throat to direct Avery’s attention back to him. “Avery, I wasn’t asking you girls if you’ve slept with him. I was asking if he’s behaved unprofessional or inappropriate with either of you ladies.” This morning Julian had called Chase and me up asking us if we thought the girls might be more open to telling us about Spillner, now that we were on…uh, friendlier terms. Chase said it couldn’t hurt to ask. So here we were…asking.

  Avery quietly sank back down in her seat. I wanted so badly to wrap my arms around her embarrassed body, but talk about being hypocritical. Here we are, questioning them about their boss’ possible unethical behavior and all I wanted to do was drag her back to my office and show her just how unethical a boss could get. There was something seriously wrong with me.

  Quinn started quietly patting Avery on the back, trying to console her, as Avery dropped her head in her hands. She was probably dusting off her resume in her head. Luckily, it seemed like nothing fazed Quinn. “He’s never said or done anything offensive to us, but I have caught him ogling women as they walked by. Stuff like that.”

  If I hadn’t been obsessed with Avery, I might have missed how her body tensed up at Quinn’s statement. “What about you, Imp?” I didn’t know if she was answering my question or praying, because all I could hear was a bunch of mumbling. “Avery?”

  She finally looked up at me. “He’s never said or done anything to me, but you may want to question a finance clerk named Lucy Alister.” The entire room was quiet, waiting for her to continue. “She hasn’t said anything to me, but I noticed that every time he comes around she finds a reason to excuse herself, or flat out runs off like she’s hiding from him or something.” Avery’s shoulders slumped in such a disappointing way. “I just figured I was reading too much into it and that if he was really doing something to make her uncomfortable, she’d say something.” She glanced at all three of us so sorrowfully. “It didn’t occur to me that she’d have to go to H.R. to do it.” She shook her head. “I just wasn’t thinking.”

  Chase piped up, “Why wouldn’t she feel comfortable going to Human Resources?”

  Quinn rolled her eyes. I’m not sure if it was at him or because she deemed his question stupid. “Are you that out of touch with the commoners, Your Highness?” she snipped. However, that still didn’t help me figure out if the eye roll was because of him or because of his question.

  “Sweetheart, walk those sexy as fuck legs right over and I’ll show you how in touch I can be,” Chase replied lasciviously, as leaned back on the couch, throwing his arms across the back and spread his legs apart making room for her to get comfortable.

  Quinn ignored him and said, “Because, you clown, your H.R. manager is Mr. Spillner’s sister-in-law.”

  And just like that all the pieces fell together and I was pissed.r />
  Chapter 8

  Envy: Because, apparently, wanting to get laid is contagious.

  Avery~

  It was already Thursday, but I seriously contemplated calling in sick the rest of the week. I mean how many times could I embarrass myself in front my bosses? I wonder if there were night classes on learning restraint, at the very least some online courses. Because I, clearly, needed to work on not reacting so quickly and I need to thank God they hadn’t fired me yet.

  After Quinn had informed them that Cynthia Emerson, our H.R. Manager, was Mr. Spillner’s sister-in-law, the guys had practically pushed us out of Julian’s office and we were instructed to tell D.C. that we were randomly selected to give feedback on one of our newest computing programs. I knew whatever was going with our boss was serious, but I had to admit, it gave me issue that Nicholas was completely professional during our meeting. Well, with the exception of him calling me Imp that one time. But here I had spent all weekend imagining a different ending to last Friday night and I had spent all Monday morning worried that I was going to get fired, and all along, he was unaffected by it all.

  I’m such a girl.

  My desk phone started to ring, bringing me out of my female musings. I looked over and because caller I.D. was a gift from the gods, I was able to see that it was Q, so I answered. “What up, homie?”

  I could picture her shaking her head. My hood status was really only appreciated by Izzy. “Have you heard anything from Nicholas about D.C.?”

  “No. Why would I?” I lowered my voice. “Do you really think they’re going to discuss something that confidential with us?”

  “I don’t know…I mean, I guess not.” Her voice was just as quiet as mine. “The suspense is killing me, though.”

  “So, why not call your boyfriend and ask him?” She was going to kill me, but I was not going to be the only one stuck in this work tornado of bad choices and unethical attraction.

  “Chase is not my boyfriend,” she hissed.

  “Hmmmm…funny how your mind automatically went to Chase,” I couldn’t help tease her. Besides, Chase was sex on a stick. I was pro-sleeping-with-Chase.

  “Know that I kept my receipt and I will return you and buy a replacement best friend if you keep that up,” she threatened.

  I snorted her threat away. “Isabella would never let you return me. Besides, you can’t return something once you’ve damaged it and believe me, you have damaged me.”

  “You haven’t seen damaged,” Q huffed. “Now, will you get serious? I’m thinking you should ask Nick what’s going on.”

  “What? Why don’t you ask him? It’s not like you weren’t one of the clowns in Friday night’s circus, too” Truth be told, I didn’t want to be anywhere near Nicholas. The attraction I felt for him was unwise and addicting. Especially since I had a vague idea of what he was packing in those slacks of his. When we were up in the VIP at Xavier’s and he pulled me onto his lap, I had felt it. His it, it. It had felt like I was sitting on a log. Now, sexually, I wasn’t as open minded as Q, nor was I as selective as Isabella. I fell somewhere in between. Since I lost my virginity at the age of nineteen, I’ve only had five sexual partners. Two of which had been long time boyfriends, Eric being the second of the two. So while I didn’t have a lot of penis experience, something told me Nicholas’ trouser snake was way above average and I wanted nothing more than to find out for myself.

  “Because I have no doubt that if you ask him, not only will he tell you, he’d probably divulge everything that has ever transpired with this company,” she answered.

  “Pfft….right….because Chase wouldn’t do the same for you?” How could she not see we were rowing the same fucked up canoe? And it had holes in the bottom.

  I heard her blow out a deep breath over the phone. “Chase is a player, Ace. Whatever he feels for me would be fucked out of his system after one night. Nick on the other hand, I think he really likes you.”

  “He does not like me, Q. He was just caught up in the same drunken moment we all were.” And because I was still smarting from his lack of reaction to me on Monday, I added, “You saw him on Monday. He didn’t even pay attention to me.”

  “What?!” she whispered yelled. “He couldn’t keep his damn eyes off you, Ace. You were just too busy being mortified to notice.”

  “Can we not-” My phone started beeping with a call on the other line. “Q, I have a call coming in, talk to you later, weirdo.”

  “Love you, psycho.” And she hung up and I switched the call over without looking at the caller I.D.

  I should have looked at the caller I.D.

  Instead I answered, “Avery Ellis.”

  “Ms. Ellis, this is Mr. Savage. Would you have moment to speak with me in my office or are you terribly busy?”

  I immediately resented him even asking if I was busy. He was my boss’ boss’ boss. He knew even if I was busy I couldn’t tell him no. “Not at all, Mr. Savage. Would you like me to bring Ms. Erikson with me?” Please, please, please make me bring Ms. Erikson with me.

  I thought I heard him snicker a little. “No, that won’t be necessary.”

  “If you would just give me a few moments to inform my boss that I will be away from my desk and then I’ll be-”

  He cut me off. “There’s no need to inform Mr. Spillner.”

  “Uh, okay…uh...”

  “Very good, Ms. Ellis. I’ll see you in a few minutes.” He hung up before I could reply.

  So, I immediately did the mature, professional thing. I sped walked to Quinn’s desk and slapped the papers she was holding out of her hand. “What the fu-”

  I bent over and grabbed her by her shoulders to make her face me. I leaned in and whispered, “He just called me up to his office!”

  She looked bewildered and like she was trying to decipher my madness. “Who? Nick?”

  “Yes. Nick!” She clearly wasn’t grasping the severity of the situation. My self-control sucked.

  She stood up and looked around over her cubicle wall to make sure no one was eavesdropping. She grabbed both my hands and held them in hers. “Relax, Ace. Take a deep breath.”

  “Qu-”

  “Stop it,” she instructed. “You have no idea why he wants to speak with you.” She was right, of course. “The important thing here is that you’re not getting fired.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Because they’d have to fire us both, and even though we would never do it, we could sue the shit out of them,” she explained. “They don’t know us well enough to know that we wouldn’t, so they’d have to err on the side of caution. They have no legal reason to fire us, Ace.”

  “Q?” I had to tell her the truth. I was going to need her advice and expertise in case this meeting went south.

  She took one look at my face and knew I was getting serious. “What’s up, Ace?”

  “I’m not really worried about getting fired.” I gave her a pointed look, willing her to know what I meant without me having to actually say the words.

  She searched my face, probably to see if I was high, but then I saw the moment she figured out my dirty, little secret. I should have known better when her face broke out in a shit eating grin that stretched from ear to traitorous ear. She let go of my hands and brought her wrist up to get a look at her watch. “If you’re not down by four, I’ll shut down your work station.” She winked at me.

  The hussy.

  “You’re not helping, Q.”

  “Better hurry. Boss man is waiting,” she teased.

  I did my best to intimidate her. “Do you know what pay back is, Q?” I didn’t wait for her to answer. “Pay back is when I trip you the next time you’re running from Chase.”

  She stink-eyed me. “You wouldn’t!”

  “If I end up bent over an executive desk with my skirt up over my ass, not only am I going to trip you, I’m going to push Chase on top of you!”

  Apparently I wasn’t as threatening as I thought I was. “Puhleeease….you’l
l be thanking me with flowers and bottles of wine if you get bent over that fine man’s desk. You know just as well as I do, if anyone can knock the bottom out, it’s those three perfect species of male.”

  “I hate you.” I promised her as I turned to head towards the floor elevator that was going to deliver me to my doom. Too bad I didn’t really hate her and too bad she absolutely knew it.

  As I rode the elevator up from the fourth floor to the fifteenth, I realized I didn’t even know where his office was located. That meant I was going to have to stop and ask a receptionist or secretary for direction to his office and I couldn’t sneak into his office like I was hoping to.

  Damn it.

  The elevator doors opened up way too soon, much to my dismay. And as I stepped out, I looked around to see if I could find any signs that led to Nicholas’ office. I didn’t see any, so I took my shaky legs to the reception desk. “Good afternoon,” I looked at her nameplate, “Lesa. My name is Avery Ellis and I have an appointment with Mr. Savage.”

  Her smile was very warm and welcoming. “One moment, please.” She picked up her desk phone, I assume, to confirm my meeting. “Hi, Dee. I have a Ms. Avery Ellis here for a meeting with Mr. Savage.” She kept smiling as she listened to whoever Dee was. “Thank you. I’ll send her right over.”

  She hung up and my hopes and dreams of this meeting being canceled went up in smoke. She stood up and walked around her desk to stand next to me. Pointing down the left wing hallway, she spoke the directions that were going to lead to my downfall. “At the end of the hallway, you’ll turn right and come upon an oak door with Mr. Savage’s nameplate. Open the door and it will lead you into his reception area where Dee, his assistant, is waiting for you.”

  I looked down the hallway like it was the hallway scene from The Shinning. I tried to cover up my apprehension as best I could, though. Lesa was so pleasantly helpful that I didn’t want to subject her to my nervous breakdown. Why ruin both our days?